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Who is the Turkish Televangelist Adnan Oktar?

On July 11th, 2018, Turkish police detained televangelist Adnan Oktar along with 234 associates over accusations including forming a criminal gang, fraud and sexual abuses.

The Istanbul police raided 120 residences and offices after criminal complaints filed by multiple plaintiffs, whose ages range from 11 to 40 years old.

Adnan Oktar has blamed the “British deep state” over his detention in Istanbul along with dozens of his followers.

But who exactly is Oktar?

Oktar is known more for his TV shows with women than his intellectual contributions, but this is not all.

Oktar was born on 02 February 1956 in Ankara, Turkey. He is a creationist writer and has produced numerous conspiracy theory-filled books on creationism and freemasonry under the name Harun Yahya, which is derived from Oktar’s prophets, Aaron and Yahya.

In 2006, Oktar wrote the Atlas of Creation, arguing that Darwin’s theory of evolution is at the root of global terrorism. According to Oktar, evolution is an evil teaching linked directly to materialism, Nazism, communism and Buddhism.

Many of Oktar’s claims are similar to fundamentalist Christian creationism but with a more nonsensical absurdity. He claims on his website that he has written more than 300 books translated into 73 languages.

Along with his community of followers, he has been busy refuting atheism, Darwinism and Zionism over the past few years. Supported by the Science Research Foundation (BAV), which is known for its anti-evolution and advocacy of creationism, Oktar has published a periodical in the BAV sponsored Millî Gazete and has organized conferences to promote this position.

Oktar studied at the Interior Architecture Department of the State Fine Arts Academy in Istanbul in 1979. He dropped out of school after a while and then entered the Philosophy and History Department at Istanbul University, which he also left early.

Oktar hosts talk show programmes on his television channel, A9, on which he discusses Islamic values and occasionally dances with young women he calls “kittens” and sings with young men he calls his “lions.” On his program Oktar surrounds himself with women while discussing religious and social issues to promote creationism.

He has been described in different spectrums of the Turkish media as the “most notorious cult leader in Turkey.”

In February 2018, Turkey’s television watchdog suspended Oktar’s television programme which blends theological discussions and dancing on the grounds that it violates gender equality and women’s rights.

The controversial TV personality is in a war of words with the head of Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs following the latter’s criticism on January 31, 2018.

In the meantime, several fathers and siblings of Oktar’s harem have filed court complaints against him.